Great Fortress (ETW building)
| Great Fortress | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category: | Fort | ||||
| Level: | 2 | ||||
| Turns to build: | 5 | ||||
| Building cost: | 6000 | ||||
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| Requires | |||||
 Artillery Fort | |||||
This impressive fort is a major obstacle to any invader, and a powerful symbol of domination over the local people.
With thick, high walls, impressive towers and many gun positions, the impression created by a fort for any attacker is of overwhelming strength. It will take time and effort to invest such a fort, break its walls with cannon fire and then organise an attack. All the while, the attackers will be prey to disease, starvation and the climate! The defenders may only have to wait for the attackers’ will to fail.
Beyond Europe, the fortification ideas of Vauban and others did not really take root until the arrival of European powers and armies. Traditional fort designs continued in use because they were good enough for their purpose: they intimidated local rebels, and were difficult for them to assault because, as noted, they were unlikely to have substantial artillery siege trains. The “old fashioned” designs were therefore good enough when it took a courageous commander, or a lucky one, to mount a successful attack. There are, however, accounts of an Able Seaman Strahan single-handedly (!) capturing the “fort” (the size is not specified) at Baj-Baj on the Hooghly River in Bengal during Robert Clive’s 1756 campaign.